Key Iowa lawmaker won’t seek re-election

DES MOINES - Iowa Rep. Tom Sands, a Republican from Wapello and chairman of the Iowa House's tax policy-writing committee, announced Thursday he will not seek re-election this fall.

Sands, 61, a banker and real estate appraiser, has served in the Iowa Legislature since 2003 and as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee since Republicans took control of the chamber in 2011.

'I want to spend more time with the family,” Sands said when reached by phone Thursday. 'Plus, I'm too young to retire, so it's just time to close this chapter and move on to the next one, whatever that may be.”

Sands' announcement comes two days after Iowa's primary election.

Sands said that after 'wrestling” with the decision, he originally chose to run for one more two-year House term. Eventually, he said, he realized that 'was the wrong decision.”

'And that wasn't fair to my wife, my family, House Republicans or the people of Iowa,” Sands said.

Because of the timing of Sands' announcement, a Republican candidate will be nominated by party leaders in the counties that make up his southeast Iowa district. A nominating convention will be held during the first three weeks of August.

District 88 includes all of Louisa County plus rural portions of Muscatine and Des Moines counties.

Two hours after Sands' announcement, a Republican candidate - Jason Delzell of Wapello - announced his intention to run for the seat.

No Democratic candidate had registered to run in the district before the primary, but one could be added by county party leaders through the same nominating process.

Rep. Mark Smith, a Democrat from Marshalltown and House minority leader, said Democrats continue to look for candidates in all districts where they did not have a candidate in the primary election, including District 88.

'We're going to try to recruit as many candidates as possible, and (District 88) is certainly one that we'll be looking at,” Smith said.

Active Republican voters outnumber Democrats by 4.4 percentage points in the district, according to Iowa Secretary of State data. But President Barack Obama won the district in 2012 by 3 percentage points, according to data compiled by Daily Kos.

Probably the most significant tax legislation passed under Sands' watch was the 2013 commercial and industrial property tax reform.

'It's probably the biggest, for sure,” Sands said. 'Everything else kind of complements that.”

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, issued a statement thanking Sands for his service in the House.

'Rep. Sands is a proven defender of Iowa taxpayers. … He always gave the hardworking taxpayers a seat at the table and was unwavering in his commitment to simplify the tax code and leave more money in Iowans' pockets,” Upmeyer said. 'Rep. Sands was a tremendous asset to the House Republican caucus, and we will miss his valuable leadership in the House.”